Fish die in hundreds as sewage overwhelms Kothanur Lake

The sight of fish dying in Kothanur Lake in southern Bengaluru has once again raised the issue of sewage being discharged into waterbodies.

Residents of JP Nagar 8th Phase have blamed broken sewage lines and the absence of diversion channels for the contamination of the lake water. Activists and residents said authorities failed to fix the issue despite numerous representations.

Sharada, a member of the Kothanur Lake Development Association, said although the discharge of sewage water into the lake was a regular affair, a large volume of raw sewage entering the lake for the past two days has been killing fish in their hundreds.

“Six years ago, a citizens’ movement stopped the total destruction of the lake. Later, the BBMP constructed a walking path for us. However, the problem of sewage entering the lake has remained. We have been requesting authorities for a permanent solution but nothing has happened so far,” Sharada said.

Raghavendra B Pachapur from ActionAid Association said a broken sewage line on March 8 allowed a large amount of wastewater into the stormwater drain that channelled it into the lake’s wetlands.

“Over the last two days, sewage entered the lake for the second time. This time, it overflowed the wetland,” he said, adding that the lake’s water quality has worsened.

A BWSSB engineer said a leak from a lateral line in KLV Layout damaged by Bescom had led to the flow of sewage in the first week of March.

“This time, a trunk line was choked. Since Kothanur Lake doesn’t have a diversion channel, sewage started flowing into the lake. We managed to pump out 20 tanker loads of sewage from the waste weir to our manholes,” he said.

Officials said a meeting would be held with the BBMP officials to find a permanent solution to save the lake from overflowing sewage.

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